Monday, March 31, 2014

One last trip to the KC Classic Auto Display in Lenexa

When I first moved to Kansas City in the 1980s, one of the first places we visited was KC Classic Auto Display in Lenexa. My dad and I were always on the lookout for old cars, and they had a bunch of them in the old industrial warehouse off 435. The place is pretty fun to look through, as they always have a fun mix of both high-end and affordable cars in their inventory. As I’m nearing the end of my time here in Kansas City, my dad and I decided to take one last visit and check out what’s on sale now.

Here’s something you don’t see every day. It’s a 1965 Dodge A100 pickup. These always looked like they’d take a nose dive if you hit the brakes too hard, which is why the wheelie-standing Little Red Wagon drag truck seemed so strange to me. This little guy here wasn’t quite as intense, but it did have a V8 lurking beneath the cab. They were asking $16,900 for it, and someone must have thought that was OK, because their website says this one is sold.

Staying on the MOPAR theme for a minute, I suspect that this ’70 Plymouth Superbird was the most valuable car in the building, with an asking price of $179,000. That’s quite a bit more than the pickup, but I suppose it is more desirable. No Hemi here; this one was equipped with a 440-c.i. V8 and three two-barrel carburetors. It also had a bench seat and a pistol grip four-speed. The contrast between this Superbird and that A10 pickup is exactly why it’s fun to go to this place.

These ’69 Toronados are kind of funny. I remember when I’d see one running around as a kid, I thought they were hideous. They always seemed to be missing their hubcaps too, so those big, awful wheels were sticking way out there. But I guess they have more of a grown-up appeal, because I really like it now. This one looked like a decent car that maybe went through a sympathetic makeover somewhere along the way. It’s got a 375-hp, 455-c.i. V8 powering the front wheels, so an asking price of under $20,000 seems pretty reasonable.

You might not think of a ’79 Malibu station wagon as much of an enthusiast’s car, but this one might change your mind. It didn’t have many options, but two of them stand out. It has a 267-c.i. V8 under the hood and it went through a four-speed manual transmission. Now I don’t think anyone ever said that 267 was the best engine Chevy ever made, but it was better than a six. And this clean old grocery-getter looked great sitting on a set of Rally Wheels with ’67 Chevrolet center caps. $14,900 takes this unusually equipped ‘Bu home.

There wasn’t a lot of information available on this Packard convertible. I think it’s a ’39 Model. It looked pretty original considering its age. It looked like they were in the process of wet-sanding out the paint, so it wasn’t quite ready to go yet. The leather interior was really nice—maybe my favorite part of the car. I wouldn’t call this car super fancy by Packard terms, but it was stately, simple, and high-quality. You might confuse me for an 80-year-old man if you base it off of some of the cars I gravitate to.